Characterization of juvenile play in rats: importance of sex of self and sex of partner
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Juvenile social play is observed in many mammalian species, and its disruption in several neuropsychiatric disorders has greatly increased interest in understanding the origins and sources of variability in this behavior. METHODS: We quantified social play behavior in juvenile rats and investigated the impact of sex and familiarity of the play partner. Sex differences in play behavior were investigated by comparing males and females from either same- or mixed-sex pairs with data pooled over 12 days of analysis. Whether play was altered based on the sex of the play partner was assessed using a paired analysis to compare play with a same- or opposite-sex play partner for both males and females. Additionally, a repeated measures design was utilized to determine whether play changed with increasing age. On postnatal day 33, a novel play partner was introduced. We used a repeated measures analysis to compare postnatal day 33 with the previous day. These approaches were used to assess the effects of age, sex, sex of partner, and familiarity of partner on total social play behavior as well as how play was broken down into components, such as pouncing, pinning, chasing, and boxing. RESULTS: There were sex differences in total frequency of play, and specific parameters of play behavior, such as chasing, pouncing, pinning, and boxing. Additionally, males significantly altered their play behavior in response to the sex of their play partner, whereas females were more sensitive to the familiarity of the play partner. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides critical groundwork for uncovering factors that regulate social play behavior and can be used to guide future mechanistic based work.
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It is the female rats who are sensitive to mixed-sex housing.
“Interestingly, it seems that it is the female rats who are sensitive to mixed‐sex housing.”
From Partner Choice and Context‐Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough‐and‐Tumble Play (2026) · cites this paper as Argue and McCarthy 2015
The Methods (Animals; page not provided) say the rats were housed in same-sex groups, so this study did not test mixed-sex housing. The Discussion (page not provided) reports a prior finding that cagemates’ sex affected males’ social behavior, with no effect observed in females—the opposite of the attributed claim. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMales play more when partnered with females than when with males, when playing in dyads.
“Given that males play more when partnered with females than when with males, when playing in dyads, and that females play at similar levels regardless of the sex of the partner (Argue and McCarthy 2015)”
From Partner Choice and Context‐Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough‐and‐Tumble Play (2026) · cites this paper as Argue and McCarthy 2015
The Results section, “Play partner affected the time spent engaged in play,” reports that male–male pairs spent more time playing than mixed-sex pairs—the opposite of the claim about males. The Results section on total frequency finds no significant change for males or females by partner sex; it supports the female comparison for frequency, but not the asserted increase for males. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredWhen reared in mixed-sex groups, females typically play less than males, even when tested in same-sex pairs.
“When reared in mixed‐sex groups, females typically play less than males, even when tested in same‐sex pairs.”
From Partner Choice and Context‐Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough‐and‐Tumble Play (2026) · cites this paper as Argue and McCarthy 2015
The Results section reports that males played more frequently than females even in same-sex test pairs. But the Discussion says the animals were housed in same-sex groups, so this study does not establish the claim for rats reared in mixed-sex groups. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA reduction in female play, and not a change in the frequency of male play, drives the sex effect.
“Indeed, it is a reduction in female play, and not a change in the frequency of male play, that drives the sex effect”
From Partner Choice and Context‐Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough‐and‐Tumble Play (2026) · cites this paper as Argue and McCarthy 2015
The Results (Fig. 1c; page unavailable) report reduced play when females were paired with novel female partners, and the Discussion says this did not occur in males paired with novel partners. But the paper does not say that this female-specific response drives the overall sex difference in play; that reduction was limited to the novel-partner condition. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredFemales play at similar levels regardless of the sex of the partner.
“Given that males play more when partnered with females than when with males, when playing in dyads, and that females play at similar levels regardless of the sex of the partner (Argue and McCarthy 2015)”
From Partner Choice and Context‐Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough‐and‐Tumble Play (2026) · cites this paper as Argue and McCarthy 2015
The Results report that females’ total frequency of play did not change significantly with partner sex, supporting the claim when 'levels' means frequency. The Discussion says time spent playing increased when females were paired with males, so the broader claim that their play was similar regardless of partner sex is not fully supported. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Juvenile female rats are more sensitive to the familiarity of their play partner, playing more with familiar individuals over unfamiliar ones.
“Interestingly, juvenile female rats seem to be more sensitive to the familiarity of their play partner, playing more with individuals that they are familiar with over those who are unfamiliar (Argue and McCarthy 2015).”
From Partner Choice and Context‐Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough‐and‐Tumble Play (2026) · cites this paper as Argue and McCarthy 2015
The Discussion reports less play when juvenile females were paired with a novel female rather than a familiar partner, supporting a familiarity effect. It also says this did not occur with a novel male partner, so the claim is too broad without the female-female qualification. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThese results are consistent with a recent study demonstrating a sex difference in pins and total play, but not chases, in both mixed-sex and same-sex pairs.
“These results are also consistent with a recent study demonstrating a sex difference in pins and total play, but not chases, in both mixed-sex and same-sex pairs [30].”
From Sex-specific effects of neonatal progestin receptor antagonism on juvenile social play behavior in rats (2021) · cites this paper as [30]
Sex differences in the amount of RTP initiated vary across studies, with some reporting males play more and others finding no significant differences.
“In addition to sex differences in partner preferences, rats also show sex differences in the amount of RTP initiated. However, this varies from study to study, with some reporting that males play more (Argue and McCarthy 2015; Olioff and Stewart 1978) and others do not find significant differences between sexes (Orsucci et al. 2025; Stark et al. 2021).”
From Partner Choice and Context‐Dependent Sex Differences in Rat Rough‐and‐Tumble Play (2026) · cites this paper as Argue and McCarthy 2015
The ability and motivation to participate in play was intact in BARR and ISO animals and was increased relative to historical data for control-housed animals.
“we found that the ability and motivation to participate in play was not only intact in BARR and ISO animals but was increased relative to our historical data for control-housed animals (Figure 1C; Argue and McCarthy, 2015).”
From Social play experience in juvenile rats is indispensable for appropriate socio-sexual behavior in adulthood in males but not females (2023) · cites this paper as Argue and McCarthy, 2015
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- Authors
- Argue, K. J., & McCarthy, M. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
- Corresponding author
- Argue, Kathryn J.
- Venue
- Biology of Sex Differences
- Published
- 2015-09-10
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 16-16
- ISSN
- 2042-6410 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4564956
- OpenAlex
- W2139547244
- Cited by
- 71
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 13.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Biology of Sex Differences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- NIMH (Grant code:RO1MH52716-018)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- sex differences, pinning, pursuit, boxing, postnatal development, rats, social behavior
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